Thanks to all the support I have had over the last 9 months fundraising, I believe the target, £60,000, is in sight. As of today, more than 450 donations on Justgiving and hundreds more at events have raised a massive £37,700 just a little short of 65% of my target.

The Shaky Team from Shaky Toun continues to be active and grow and several high profile fundraising events are planned:

A fashion show to shake up your wardrobe

On the 3rd November 2017, Janice Fraser is organising a fashion show in the White Church in Comrie ! This promises to be a very exciting event. Tickets available from Hanson’s Kitchen and from the White Church.

Shaky Fundraising evening

On the 24th November there will be a fundraising dinner sponsored by Entier/Wilde Thyme in the Glenturret Distillery, Crieff and there will be live music, a shaky auction, speakers about groundbreaking research into finding more effective treatment and or cure of Parkinson’s and more. Tickets are £40pp and and tables of ten can be booked for £375. (85% of ticket price will go towards Parkinson’s research). Only 160 tickets are available for this unique event, so book your ticket early by emailing marc@mvgla.com.

For some 15 years my hair has been ‘managed’ by Tracey Callison. Tracey has kept me ‘clear cut’ for years. She could probably cut me ‘blind’. Tracey and team gave me a big surprise by organising a fundraising event and raised a spectacular £550 for Parkinson’s research. Many thanks to the team at the salon: Zoe Foley, Hannah Campbell, Theresa Regan and of course to Tracey and her business partner, Paul Charlecrafte.

Parkinson’s is an incurable, degenerative condition which can affect anyone but despite that research released by Parkinson’s UK on the 10th April reveals that:

Almost half (48%) of people are unsure, or wrongly say that it is possible to prevent Parkinson’s.

Four in five (83%) are unsure, or incorrectly think that there is no limit to the amount of time Parkinson’s medication works for.

Two in three (65%) wrongly believe that Parkinson’s medication does more than mask or ease the symptoms of the condition.

Parkinson’s affects almost every area of a person’s life with a range of physical and ‘hidden’ symptoms including tremor, pain, sleep and mental health problems. The research highlights the lack of public understanding of the day to day reality of living with the condition, with only a minority of people associating Parkinson’s with:

bladder or bowel problems (17%)

anxiety (40%)

sleep problems, including insomnia and nightmares (30%)

Commenting on the launch of the charity’s first public fundraising campaign, Katherine Crawford, Scotland Director of Parkinson’s UK said: “200 years after the condition was first identified, people with Parkinson’s in Scotland are still waiting for an effective treatment that tackles the condition head on.

“It’s been more than fifty years since the last major drug breakthrough but Parkinson’s can still leave people struggling to do the simple things that most of us take for granted. That’s just not good enough for the 11,000 people in Scotland with the condition, so today we say we won’t wait any longer. That’s why Parkinson’s UK is harnessing the expertise of the research community and the support of those living with Parkinson’s to spearhead a new drive to deliver better treatments and a cure faster.

“But we can’t do this alone. That’s why we’re urgently asking people to donate whatever they can to support our vital research. We won’t stand by and let Parkinson’s treatments fall further behind.”

To find out more about the We Won’t Wait campaign visit wewontwait.parkinsons.org.uk

On Saturday 11th March last, I ‘cycled’ approximately 40-41 miles on a turbo trainer in the Square in the centre of Comrie and £173.07 was raised in cash donations. I also raffled of a Ridgeback ladies bike donated by EDF energy selling just 40 raffle tickets at £10.00 each and the winner was Bill Lang from Comrie. This added almost 1% of my target amount of funds raised to date . The total raised so far is £8,900. Thank you!